Sorghastrum nutans

Indian grass’s bronze flower cluster contrasts beautifully with its tall, blue-green stems, and displays maize highlights when in bloom. The flowers are unusually showy for a grass, adorned with pendant little stamens of a soft yellow hue.  Indian grass is one of the principal grasses of the North American tallgrass prairie, which was once extensive across the great plains states west of Ohio. Within the prairie, Indian grass occupies a very similar niche to big bluestem, occurring primarily in well-drained lowland areas under full sun. Neighboring prairie grasses include switchgrass in wetter lowland areas and little bluestem in dry uplands. In NE Ohio, Indian grass can be found growing in meadows and along roadsides. At 5-7 feet tall, Indian grass is an impressive, colorful grass that will do well in any sunny home landscape of average moisture or drier. Caution must be exercised in placing Indian grass within a wildflower garden, however, due to the grass’s dominant nature. Indian